Loyola hosts Spanish playwright and performances

Spanish dramatist and playwright José Moreno Arenas, known for his short, comic plays that confront the audience with shocking twists, will visit Loyola University New Orleans to give a lecture “Minimal Theatre: Dramatic ‘Fleas’” and dramatic readings of two of his mini plays on Monday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., in Multimedia Room 2 of the Monroe Library.

Short plays by Moreno Arenas, “The Singer,” “The Accident” and “The Parking Space,” will be performed on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in Roussel Hall, located in Loyola's Communications/Music Complex.

The plays will be performed in Spanish by the Teatreves Theatre Company, directed by Carmen Ruiz. A dramatic reading of the play “The Parking Space” will also be performed in English by Loyola students and directed by C. Patrick Gendusa, visiting assistant professor of theatre arts.

Both events are free and open to the public and are sponsored by Loyola’s Biever Guest Lecture Series, Sociedad Española of New Orleans, the Department of Languages and Cultures, and the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.

Moreno Arenas has published more than 40 plays, which typically involve rapid-fire humor that envelops serious social criticism. While active in Granada theatre, Moreno Arenas also has produced several of his short works in Portugal within the past year and has received critical attention in Madrid as well as in the United States among university professors who specialize in contemporary Spanish theatre.

“This type of play is the trademark of this dramatist and is the reason why he is receiving so much attention currently,” said Eileen Doll, associate professor of languages at Loyola. “His plays deal with everyday problems of common people, and the attitudes of current society.”

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